Throughout September, October and the beginning of November, Sagres on the South Western tip of Portugal becomes an amazing sight to watch migrating Birds of Prey. Birds flying across to Africa will always select the quickest route across open water which in South Western Europe is the Strait of Gibraltar. So why do they end up in Sagres? They follow the Western Coastline in a Southerly direction until they reach the South coast where they will then make their way along the Southern Coastline to the short crossing at Gibraltar. This results in some spectacular views of the birds soaring in the sky including this Juvenile Egyptian Vulture. More pictures below.
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Stork Gathering For Migration Or Maybe Not?
Just to the west of Silves in the small village of Odelouca (where the river Odelouca merges with the Arade) there is a large gathering of White Storks. This is a sign of the Storks gathering for mass migration southerly to Africa, but how many will actually leave?
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Morning Dog Walk: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.
The area around the Quinta has a high population of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and they are usually easy to spot, however, taking a photo is a different matter. This morning whilst out with the Dog I heard one tapping away on branch of a Cork Oak tree. I managed to lie down on the track and slide into a position to take this photo before it noticed me.
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I Think My Internet Is Unstable
This is one of the poles that carries the phone line to our Quinta. Just look at the Woodpecker damage it has. If you look closely you can see where the Woodpeckers have exploited the natural cracks in the grain where bugs have been living.
I think some strong wind may take this pole out. In case you are wondering, the mountain top you can see in the distance on the first photo is the summit of Fóia
Juvenile Iberian Magpies
As you may already know, we have a large colony of Iberian Magpies around the Quinta (remember my Photo Session with them?).
There are now plenty of Juveniles amongst the foraging colony which are easily spotted due to their grey heads.
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I Returned To The White Stork Battle Ground
You may remember back in February, I spent the morning in Silves photographing the returning White Storks. I watched in amazement at what seemed to be battles for nesting space. The blog post and battle photographs can be seen in This Post.
Today I was in Silves and had a few minutes to spare so went to have a look at the same location (near the prison). In the Tree-Top nest there was a Juvenile sitting on top. It wasn’t the best time to visit as it was almost 4pm and not only was the sun overhead and bright but most of the birds were away feeding. The other nest that was under attack in February had two juveniles sitting on top, however, they flew away soon after I arrived.
Juveniles are easy to spot as their beaks and legs are much greyer in colour, although as you can see they are already turning red. It is believed that the adult’s beaks and legs turn red due to the diet consumed.
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All of the content displayed on this website (unless otherwise stated) remains the copyright of Craig Rogers. It is illegal to download, copy (including copy by reference) or distribute any content without prior permission and/or licensing. Please read my Copyright Statement.